The fifth day of battle, the fourth day of raising the earthen hills.
The weather was no different from the previous days: cold in the morning, hot by noon. The fighting between the two armies also seemed to have settled into a certain "routine."
Both sides were constantly expanding the scope of the fighting while attempting to upgrade their large-scale fortification works, making full use of their enormous reserves of manpower. Meanwhile, both had adapted to the battlefield, learning to imitate the other's tactics or accept the other's swift countermeasures against their own.
On the battlefield were trenches, palisades, earthen hills, plank houses, flames, water vapor, arrows and spears, banners and armor, occasional surges of true qi, cries of battle, calls to surrender, curses, and speeches.
Naturally, there were also death and blood, dark soil, and the occasional new shoot of spring.
The battle seemed to be finding its stride.
Faced with all this, Xue Changxiong also seemed to have calmed down, no longer displaying the impatience of the previous days. Whether that was good or bad remained unclear.
"Great General!"
At noon, the hottest part of the day, a rider came galloping over. It was none other than Luo Xin, son of Luo Shu, the Youzhou Grand Camp's Second Gentleman of the Palace General. Reaching the gentle slope behind the earthen hill, he tumbled from his saddle and hurriedly reported, "My general sent me to report... Pingchang County has been cut off. The connecting encampment has fallen."
Xue Changxiong smiled faintly. "I saw. But how did you win so easily?"
"The rebels abandoned it themselves." Luo Xin did not seize the opportunity to boast. "The encampment looked large, but it was practically just a corridor connecting this place with Pingchang County. There weren't many troops. Our cavalry carried planks